On the ground

Erian says the two have settled in, despite the stormy weather and hard work. She says they’ve mostly been helping by sorting clothing and by sharing in the work of shuttling people around.

She says it has been an eye opening experience to meet the refugees face to face.

“They are all just like us, but they have faced the massive decision of taking their families away from their lands with a shopping bag of clothing.”

Non-Syrian refugees are being kept in camps on the other side of the island where conditions are described as “hellish.” / Facebook – Iayisha Khan

She says despite the ordeal they’ve gone through, the people she’s met have been polite and friendly. She says she was touched when one woman- also travelling with her daughter- thanked her after telling the story of how her husband had been shot dead.

“That stuck home to me, because I’m travelling with my teenage daughter.”

Hannah says on the ground, the main thing people need is warm socks and dry clothes, as they often arrive soaking wet.

She says it’s been sobering to see the difference between the camps Syrians and non-Syrians are kept in.

And she says she’s been moved by witnessing the trials people go through as they conquer this one short, but incredibly dangerous leg of their journey.

“People have to understand that they’re not leaving because they want to, they’re leaving because they have to. Because it’s safer than staying there. You have to know that people are risking so much, so obviously they’re fleeing from something really terrible that we can’t even understand, and we need to be accepting of that.”

She says even though university is waiting for her back at home, she’s already thinking about how she can get back to Greece to get involved again.

Comments

Freeland delivered the current Canadian narrative and in the process set herself up to receive the brunt of both those Maher barrels.
What was revealed in this discussion (watch it here) was that Ms Freeland’s commitment to the “we’re so progressive” narrative overwhelmed any deeper thought into what the implications of bringing so many into a very different culture might mean – to both them and the existing culture.
And what may happen if you don’t think such things through?

Well, you could end up like the Prime Minister of Finland…
Similarly driven to prove his progressive cred, Finnish PM Juha Sipila offered up his own home to incoming Syrian refugees. He was probably looking forward to a “Sunny Days” photo op with a tearful single mom or doe-eyed orphan.